8 Tips for Waking Up Early & Conquering the Alarm Clock

From Jeff: This is a guest post by Loren Pinilis. Loren operates Life of a Steward, a site about time management from a Christian perspective. You can subscribe to his blog or follow Loren on Twitter.

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.—Benjamin Franklin

For years, I wanted to wake up early. It seems almost all successful people get going before sunrise, and I wanted to be one of them. But when my morning alarm would go off, all the good intentions in the world couldn’t pull me out of bed.

I understood the benefits of waking up early. I made plans to wake up early and write, just like the recent challenge in the 15 Habits series. But that discipline was gone in the morning.

The groggy person hitting the snooze button wasn’t the same clear-thinking person that had set the alarm the night before.

When I realized waking up early is a battle fought on two fronts, everything changed We must prepare our bodies, but we must also trick our sleepy minds.

Here are eight tips to help you win the fight and wake up early:

Take the first steps

Cultivate a mental environment

Develop a “get to” attitude

Create some accountability

Sleep well

Never snooze

Stick to your wake time

Build momentum

1. Take the first steps

The toughest part of the morning is simply getting out of bed. An alarm across the room is an old trick, but I don’t want to wake up my wife in the process. So I have my iPhone next to my bed with a soft alarm that I can turn off quickly.

To keep myself from falling back asleep in the morning brain-fog, I have another alarm across the room set for a few minutes later.

It’s extremely loud and will jolt my wife awake if I don’t walk across the room and turn it off first. Even my foggy mind understands that, and the fear of a startled and cranky wife drives me to take those first few steps out of bed.

2. Cultivate a mental environment

Here are a few ideas to wake your brain up (and keep it alert all day long):

Fill in the cracks of your day with inspiration on how and why to wake up early.

You can rationalize a lot when your alarm goes off. But if you’ve immersed yourself in this environment, even your hazy morning mind will feel compelled to wake up.

3. Develop a “get to” attitude

Get excited about your day, and you’ll jump out of bed. Don’t drive yourself with guilt about why you have to wake early. Make waking early something you get to do.

Of course, the joy of creating can drive you. But don’t be afraid to motivate yourself by doing something fun in the morning. Play games or indulge in leisure reading.

Better yet, think of the benefits that others will receive from your work. You can also keep track of your progress and reward yourself when you reach a milestone.

4. Create some accountability

Recruit a friend to hold your feet to the fire. You can have weekly meetings or even call or text each other when you wake up.

There are great online groups — such as the fellow artists here on this community, the upcoming Tribe Writers community, or groups such as the Hello Mornings Challenge for mothers on Facebook and Twitter.

5. Sleep well

The struggle isn’t all mental. There’s a strong physical component and the amount — as well as the quality — of sleep you get is the most important factor.

Although it’s obvious, make sure you go to bed at a reasonable time if you want to wake up early. Also, pay attention to your diet and exercise. General physical fitness greatly impacts your sleep habits and energy levels.

6. Never snooze

Personally, I noticed that regularly hitting snooze made my thinking even cloudier when the alarm went off. Your mind starts to ignore the alarm bells.

7. Stick to your wake time

Wake up at the same time every day.

Your body becomes conditioned to this and regulates your sleep patterns accordingly. You get more of that precious REM sleep and when you have a regular wake time, your body actually begins the process of waking up long before your alarm sounds.

8. Build momentum

After you wake up early, the challenge is to stay up. Maybe you’ll love to relax and sip your coffee. But for me, getting too comfortable is dangerous.

I used to start my mornings by reading the Bible and praying. It was a fight to keep my eyes open. Now, the first thing I do is exercise. My heart gets racing, and afterwards I can give what matters most my best focus and attention.

Move through your routine quickly:

Have the coffee ready.

Set out your exercise clothes.

Keep a vigorous pace and you won’t feel as drowsy.

When I depended on discipline and willpower alone, I had limited success waking up early. But I’m mastering my mornings now — all due to a few simple tricks. I hope they help you, too.

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I’m Jeff Goins, the best-selling author of five books including The Art of Work and Real Artists Don’t Starve. Every week, I share new tips on creative work. Enter your email below and I’ll send you a free book.